Greetings from the Top of the World to you all! Anyone seen any huge mountains around here ?????

Have now been settling into the much more relaxed and much more laid back Nepali lifestyle for 6 days now and having a much easier time of things than in India...gone are the staring eyes, the arse pinching and there's marginally less spitting going on...and frankly in comparison it's a bit dull on the entertainment side from that angle !!! But oh so beautiful....

Anyway last time I wrote I was about to head to Delhi and as is customary my 6 o'clock bus to Delhi left at just after 7 p.m. and the 12 hour journey took 17 (endless chai stops on this one!) and the "Strictly no music" ticket promise should have said "Strictly no music between the hours of 2.00- 2.05 a.m. Bless India I love it!

Arriving back in Delhi was like coming home and I handled the rickshaw wallahs with expert precision, I expect they thought "Here comes another sucker who doesn't know where the hell they are so let's rip 'em off" So when I announced I'd been to Delhi hundreds (a lie!) of times before and I knew exactly where I was (I did south of Connaught Place!) and I knew that a prepaid taxi to Paharganj was 23 rupees the rickshaw price suddenly went from 70 rupees down to 30 so I got in for 25!!! Success! The guys at the hotel remembered me and they gave me a room for half what I paid before!!! and they're keeping it for me for when I go back in June! They all wanted to know where I'd been and then they decided I was certifiable for going to Jaisalmer and Jodhpur (Amrita they really want to meet you too as they are interested in the mental health of the girl I went with too!!!)

So it was a real nice "welcome home"...stayed a day there then on Sat morning was up and away to the airport for my flight...I have to say getting there was a total breeze it's easy to find where you are going as all the various airlines are listed with their respective check in areas so you know where you're going before you get out of the cab...and then once checked in I spent a couple of completely hassle free hours in air conditioning and absolutely no "Which country?" The flight was great, I sat next to and helped a blind Nepali guy who was at Uni in Delhi and can you believe he's never been ripped off by a rickshaw driver! So they do have a conscience after all. He marks all his notes with his own code and has never been shafted!!! Lucky bugger....top tip for anyone coming to India (pretend you're blind!) How the hell does he cross the road ???? Maybe he's got a pet cow?!

Was mobbed by the usual hotel touts at the airport but as an added Nepali novelty the police and army actually come over and stop you from being buried under a mountain of hotel cards so it was a very orderly and funny experience. Tourism has been hit here really hard by the fighting and they are 20% down on figures so everyone is vying for guests...There is a heavy army and police contingent and quite a lot of checkpoints along the roads. I have been reliably informed though that if you do get stopped by Maoists they're actually quite nice and let you get off the bus along with your stuff before they torch it and disappear so that's a comfort eh!! Haven't seen one jot of trouble though so let's hope it stays that way...seems from the papers that Pakistan and Indian are worse.. glad not to be in Jaisalmer now.

Anyhow, I managed to get myself a room for $4 at the Kathmandu Guest House which is about as famous as Everest around these parts and a bit of an institution. It certainly has that damp smell of authority and sweaty trekkers socks about it...it is a bit of a scene but ok and right in the middle of things. Didn't like the 12.5% tax they seem to stick on everything though so won't be going back when I head back to Kathmandu.

Saturday I saw rain for the first time in two months and man did it rain!!! Chucked it down all afternoon...I was about to go out and buy a jumper as well coz I was absolutely freezing as it's only about 25/26 degrees and although I didn't think it my body had seemed to have gotten used to 48/50 degree heat and was protesting!

So I have been hangin out in Kathmandu for the last few days where instead of "which country?" I get asked "So which part of Australia are you from them?" (EH???)Even a kiwi guy thought I was an Aussie!. The best way to see the city is on foot or on a bike so I have been walking all over the city and checking it out and examining the tat on offer in every shop...It's really westernised after India and lots of neon and coke signs and all the western advertising and lots of beer....I was quite taken aback at how many westerners/tourists there were but everyone keeps telling me how quiet it is. Well I haven't seen this many westerners in 2 months and to me it seems really packed full of them so god only knows what it's like here in high season!!!

Took a couple of days to get used to again.. have visited all the usual touristy spots around the city and some photos of Durbar Square will appear on the website at some point. I refused to pay the massive GBP7.00 to go into Bhaktapur so haven't been there on principle! The people are really friendly and completely laid back and smiley and you do get the distinct impression they are being immeasurably more sincere than the average Indian you bump into on the street...it's just completely different and frankly after India getting around is a breeze...buses leave on time, drop you where they say, taxis are organised (and have meters! Wow!), directions are generally accurate...all a bit of a novelty and I feel rather spoilt and totally relaxed. You can certainly unwind more here....

The only really exciting thing I've done is on Tuesday I went to a place called the Last Resort which is about 12km from the Tibetan border and then at 12 noon I promptly threw myself of a 160m+ bridge with a glorified elastic band strapped to my ankles!!! And that was a real buzz!! It's meant to be the world's longest freefall from a land based bungee. There is one bigger in south Africa or something but not so far of a free fall, this one was 160metres which was plenty....! Anyway did that in my Robbie t-shirt as I thought it appropriate given the song "Old before I die!"....am still very much alive and still giggling about it...Got a new t-shirt which is always a bonus and bought the video (SO MUM PLEASE DO NOT RECORD EMMERDALE OVER IT WHEN IT GETS TO YOU????) It was a whole day trip including lunch at the resort and it was a really excellent day out, although long, as we left at 6 a.m. and retuned about 6.30- 7.00 p.m....As you can imagine the scenery here is absolutely out of this world, lush, green, mountains all terraced with rice paddies and tropical fruit trees and it is simply the most beautiful countryside. You are surrounded constantly by the enormous hills and even larger mountain regions and it certainly puts your size into perspective. It is simply stunning and you could never get bored of looking at it. Waterfalls and rivers cut through the rocks and gorges and everywhere there are small houses dotted right up to the clouds until you can't see any further. There is no way you could put one iota of it into a camera lens...it is so amazing....as for the mountains, well for the time being they're hiding in the clouds and refusing to pose for the camera but I know they're there and I'll find them.

I left Kathmandu at 7 this morning and caught the bus to Pokhara where now reside.. a really quiet but especially beautiful spot by a gorgeous lake. Very quiet, not too touristy, well it is low season...not too sure abut my choice of accommodation I think I'll check out tomorrow and find somewhere with some other guests!!!! I sat next to an Australian guy called Phil on the journey. He's lived and worked here with his wife and three kids for 3 years so it was cool to chat to him about the area and pick up some local inside info (like where I can buy Marmite!!). He gave me his number and offered me a TV to veg in front of (cable TV) a lot of choccie and decent coffee on my return from the hills so I may just take him and his wife up on that....